


Soft kitty, warm kitty

by i_dreamthedream



Series: Always hopeful of romance and adventure [7]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 06:25:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10431102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_dreamthedream/pseuds/i_dreamthedream
Summary: John makes an impulsive decision that impacts his and Alexander's future feat. an adorable little ball of furr, noisy friends and bilingual puns





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starlitsequins](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlitsequins/gifts).



> Hey guys! 
> 
> So can you believe I'm now done with two multichaps in this fandom? How cool is that? I'm working on my next one but in the meantime I'm planning on expending this verse. So there we go! 
> 
> For starlit, who was as excited for this as I am! Hope you like it <3 
> 
> PS: Also I'm sorry, I know it's the lamest name for a cat fic but... yeah...

**Paris, 18 th arrondissement **

**5 th of November 2012**

In retrospect, Alex really should have seen something like that coming. John had very-not-subtly mentioned it barely an hour after they were back from their trip to Mexico.

“So that cat was cute,” he said as he laid down on their bed. It was only midday but they were jetlagged as fuck after flying for ten hours.

Even Alex who hated idleness couldn’t deny that the idea of a nap in their huge bed seemed very tempting, especially with the warmth of John next to him. His boyfriend – despite having slept most of the flight – seemed barely awake and would without a doubt disappear inside the mountain of blankets and pillows that they’d bought.

“Really?” Alex quirked up an eyebrow. “You’re not gonna try to trick me into getting one with cute YouTube videos of kitties or some shit?”

“Would that have worked?” John grunted. “And I’m too tired to think of a good plan just yet. But I will.”

“Well no and you do that,” Alexander shook his head fondly. Really his boyfriend was really too adorable to be true, almost already asleep over the covers. And in any case, he wasn’t _opposed_ to the idea of having a pet exactly. He still thought that they should have a better argument than ‘they look so cute’ and start adopting every animal they met. Seriously, someone needed to counterbalance John’s impulsiveness on the matter.

But since John didn’t seem to have more to say on the subject for now, Alex decided not to insist and instead snuggled close to the very inviting curve of John’s body on their bed.

.

**Paris, 18 th arrondissement **

**18 th of March 2013**

Contrary to what he had once said, John never got around to make an actual plan to get Alexander to warm up to the idea of them adopting a cat. He wasn’t like his boyfriend, who could convince anyone of absolutely anything if he decided to put his mind – and more specifically, his words – to it. He wasn’t like that.

He jumped from project to project, from passion to passion, from hobby to hobby every other week. So even if he really liked animals and was _certain_ that he wanted to have one some day, life had gone on and there had been more urgent matter to deal with, namely his new job. He still had to pinch himself most days to believe that he was actually being paid to take photos of his favorite city.

He knew that some people, some Parisians thought of the town as nothing more that a working place, a container of their apartments, a spot to go through in metro twice a day. He didn’t. To him, it was more than just a place, more than the old stones although he really did love those. It was about the energy, the endless possibilities, the hundreds of stories that he could tell with one single picture. John was in love with Paris.

But all of that wasn’t of importance now. Because his old friend from art school Eric had called him an hour ago to say that his cat had had a litter and that one of the kitty remained homeless. John had blurted out that he’d take it, absolutely knowing that it was one of the craziest things that he’d done but not bringing himself to care. Eric had said that the cat was weaned and that if he and his girlfriend couldn’t find someone to take care of him, well… John shuddered at the thought, not on his watch.

So he went over at their place on the Boulevard Voltaire and almost melted at the sight of the young grey cat, looking very similar to Victoria’s in México. He took it – “It’s a he,” Eric said – and raised him to the level of his eyes. The little thing looked at him with big bright blue eyes and John grinned.

“We’ll get along just fine I think,” he told Eric who nodded with a little smirk.

He stayed a little longer to catch up – it had been a while since they’d talked, longer since they’d seen each other since Eric was now doing a master degree in visual communication – and then John bid him goodbye. He needed to swing by the pet shop for a few essentials for the little ball of fur.

When he was on the threshold, the kitten safely tucked in his coat to protect him from the exceptionally cold winter and with his mom meowing pitifully from inside, Eric asked: “So Alexander is alright with this uh?”

John felt guilty for a fraction of second but he was already way too emotionally attached now to let go of the warm animal in his arms.

“He will be,” he replied with more confidence than he felt. Eric shot him an incredulous look to which John just shrugged. He knew Alexander would come around. In the meantime, he had a very cute cat to bring back home.

_“Vámonos amigo,”_ he whispered.

.

**Paris, 18 th arrondissement**

**18 th of March 2013 **

Alexander was walking fast from the metro station toward his apartment. The cold wave that had hit France these past days was goddamn awful. He was half convinced that his nose would fall out any moment and he buried his gloved hands into his coat pockets. Only a few blocks and I’d be home and he’d put his freezing hands on John’s neck and his boyfriend would yelp and wave him off. Then he would lure John into taking a shower with him – John would pretend to be offended before undressing him with great dexterity – and then they would eat dinner together and John would listen to Alexander rant about that _lying piece of shit_ that was the minister of budget and _those homophobic assholes_ of the Manif pour tous and everything would be ok again.

He swung his badge at the front door of the building and opted to climb the stairs, hoping the exercise would help with the numbness he felt in his limbs.

“Honey, I’m home!” he called out ironically when he crossed the threshold.

Now usually when he came home from work, John would be either in the kitchen working on dinner and Alex would know because the whole apartment would smell heavenly – at the exception of the time the toaster decided to die and almost combust the entire building – or watching a movie on the TV and would switch to the news so that they could watch them together.

Today though something seemed off. For one, John hadn’t respond to his greeting by something snarky yet. No instead Alexander could hear him faintly in the living room, talking in Spanish. That was weird. John had no one to talk to in that language beside Alex. He would mutter stuff in it from time to time but not now because it was clearly _addressed_. And now listening closely, Alex realized John was closer to cooing and whatever options his brain was coming up with were deeply worrying.

_“Si, eres hermoso mi amor,”_ John said and Alex wasn’t proud of the way he rushed toward the room, ready to stop what was happening when he stopped dead on his track.

John was lying on the couch giggling as a little puddle of grey fur was on his chest, head-butting under his chin with dedication. Well, that one was unexpected to say the least. He just stared a bit helplessly for a moment. His boyfriend hadn’t noticed him yet and was all too happy to play with his new friend.

Eventually he loudly cleared his throat. John jolted upward and the kitten, startled, planted his claws inside John’s chest and he hissed. Alex couldn’t quite bring himself to feel sorry about it. After the scare he just had, that was probably cosmic retribution.

“Care to explain who this is?” he asked John as he settled on one arm of the couch. He intended to sound firm and a little pissed off but the kitty was now licking at John’s fingers from his lap and that was most likely the cutest thing Alexander had ever seen. He was suddenly itching to get his hands on his phone and snap a picture.

“Uh, well…” John started. “My friend Eric – you remember Eric right? – well, he called and said that if he didn’t find a place for this little one they have to quote ‘get rid of him’ unquote so I said we’d take him?”

“We?” Alexander raised an eyebrow. “Was I somehow involved in the decision?”

“Well, I mean…” John stammered, a little flustered and Alex was distracted for a second by the way his neck flushed. “I checked with the building chart and it’s ok to have pets and it’s a cat it’s not like we have to walk him every day or something. I already bought a litter and cat food and toys…” he trailed off.

“So no then,” Alex couldn’t help but smile. He tentatively reached out to the little thing and the cat sniffed his fingers cautiously. He slowly went off of John to settle on Alexander’s leg. Alex scratched him behind the ears and was rewarded by a very loud purring. Alex was very aware of the winning grin on John’s face but decided to ignore it. The kitty head-butted him in the stomach demanding more attention and the two humans chuckled.

“I haven’t named him yet,” John said softly and Alex looked back at him. “Wanna do the honors?”

“Oh so now I have the right to an opinion?” Alex teased. John rolled his eyes. “That’s probably a good idea that I get to name him though,” he mused. “You’d probably go for something lame like Turtle!”

“Shut up,” John grumbled and the way he turned even redder was all Alex needed to confirm his hypothesis.

“You’re cute,” Alex said fondly.

“Would you name our cat already?” John said in mock exasperation. “The suspense is killing us!”

Alex looked back down at the grey kitten, who had claimed one of the cushion and was now looking at them curiously.

_“Pues Gatito,”_ Alex smiled, _“Estas bienvenido aquí!”_

.

**Paris, 18 th arrondissement**

**25 th of March 2013 **

“You adopted a _what_?”

“A kitten Herc, a cat,” John repeated for the third time with as much patience as he was able. “I’m pretty sure you’ve seen some before.”

“Uh,” Hercules huffed and kept a suspicious eye on the kitten, as if he would turn into a lion or a tiger any second. Alex was trying very hard not to burst out laughing, seeing a giant like Hercules so startled by such a little creature.

It had taken some adjusting, this past week. The cat was eager so explore every inch of new territory he could find and had started to dig his claws in most of their furniture. He was young though, so his education wouldn’t be too hard to do and John seemed to know what he was doing. It had occurred to Alex that his boyfriend had probably owned one growing up. He had wondered if this was one of the many things his father had taken away from him but couldn’t bring himself to ask.

Their main parenting disagreement came from the fact that Alex refused to have him sleep in their bedroom at night.

“He can go there all he wants during the day,” he’d said. “But once we go to sleep, you’re the only one I cuddle and I’m the only one _you_ cuddle!”

John had tried every trick that would usually work to convince Alexander. But then Alex had pointed out that unless he wanted the kitten to witness those tricks, he’d have to admit defeat. John definitively saw the logic behind that and conceded.

The last addition of their little group was now being introduced to their friends. Cato, second animal whisperer after John, had been delighted to meet him and the affection was of course mutual. Hercules was looking at them as if they’d grown an extra head. Adrienne had shrugged and Gilbert was literally cooing.

“So what’s his name?” Adrienne asked them, taking the cat from Gilbert’s arms.

John and Alex exchanged a look and an amused smile.

_“Gato,”_ John answered eventually.

“ _Gateau?_ You named your cat cake? Why?” Hercules exclaimed.

“Not exactly,” Alex chuckled.

The three other men just looked at them with blank eyes but Adrienne – and her passion for foreign languages – had a very amused look in her eyes.

“You’re serious? You actually named him…?” she started and at John’s nod, she burst into laughter.

“Will someone explain?” Herc grumbled.

“You named your cat… _cat!”_ Adri wheezed.

Alex shrugged. “He answers better to Spanish,” he smirked.

“I’d still like to know what the joke is,” Laf sighed, exasperated.

“It’s in Spanish,” Alexander explained, smirking and taking the kitten from Adrienne. “ _Gato,_ G-A-T-O. Means cat.”

“You’re not serious,” Hercules said, voice full of disbelief. “Which one of you knuckleheads came up with that name?”

“This genius,” John replied fondly, pointing at his boyfriend with their cat on his lap.

“Of course,” Laf scoffed. “Our little Hamilton is always up for bilingual pun!”

_“Va te faire,”_ Alexander shot back cheekily. _“A él, lo puedes morder chiquito,”_ He added before kissing the cat’s head.

.

**Paris, 18 th arrondissement**

**September 2013**

After six months of having Gato with them, John could barely remember a time he wasn’t. He loved the silent presence in the apartment and how thanks to him, he was never bored anymore. The cat, though very independent was also cheeky and loving with a passion for plastic bags and tuna food. He would always jump on a chair to join one of them, claiming any little space available and then proceed to distract them with kisses from his wet nose.

John loved to watch him move, fascinated by his fluid movements and his adorable facial expressions. He didn’t even mind the horrible breath that he had when he licked his nose.

And most of all, he loved watching Alex taking care of him. He had always known that Alex was a big marshmallow on the inside but the cat brought out that part of him to a whole new level. The sight of his boyfriend, the love of his life playing with the cat on the couch, talking to him in Spanish using pet name like _mi vida_ , feeding him… Well it did _things_ to John’s heart that he didn’t know he could feel.

It hit him all at once that they were family and he freaked out. He really shouldn’t have but he had offered to help a co-worker who had to go take pictures in the suburbs the next weekend and she just shook her head.

“I’ll be fine, enjoy your weekend with your family!”

_Family._ That was a word John had come to dread over the years. A reminder that he was the black sheep and that no matter what the stories said, family didn’t come with unconditional love. And he had had to learn that the hard way.

But then he opened the door to their place, to Alex cleaning Gato’s little paws from where he hurt himself last week and something settled in John’s chest. Suddenly whatever he was feeling a second before wasn’t as important as helping poor Alex, who would have to be disinfected too with all the scratches he was getting.

Then the three of them would lie on the couch and watch the news and everything would be perfect.

.

**Paris, 18 th arrondissement**

**November 2013**

It was only the second night since Alex left for Alsace and John almost dreaded going to bed. It just felt so huge now that he had all that space to himself. He was so used to either fight Alex for the cover or having him clung onto John’s body, leaving him absolutely no breathing room. Not having him beside his boyfriend beside him was unnerving.

When Alex called, they stayed together on the phone longer than they would both care to admit. John was mildly reassured that he wasn’t the only one with separation anxieties.

He checked the time. Almost midnight, he needed to get some sleep even though he’d been restless the night before. He changes into his PJs, brushed his teeth and went to give some more food for the cat. His little furry friend rubbed himself against his leg. John looked down, amused and was met with intelligent blue eyes. Gato meowed and John fulfilled his request and scratched him behind the ears.

It felt nice, to be there for someone in the apartment, he thought distantly.

H knew he shouldn’t. He and Alex had discussed it and they’d come to an agreement. But then again Alex wasn’t there.

“What the hell,” John muttered and picked up the cat. He carried him into the bedroom and put him on the bed.

“You don’t say a word to Alex when he gets back ok?” he warned him as he slipped under the covers.

When Alex came back early to surprise John the Saturday morning, he found his pillow occupied by their feline friend who didn’t even looked guilty when he saw him.

“Of course,” Alex sighed with fondness.

He ushered out the cat, took off his clothes and slid next to John. He wrapped his arms around John’s waist firmly and John made a noise in his sleep. He blinked and it took a few minutes for his eyes to settle on his boyfriend, in bed with him.

“Babe you’re home,” he mumbled. Alexander nodded.

The cat jumped again on the bed and settled at their feet.

Alexander raised an eyebrow: “We’ll discuss this later,” he decided. He pressed a kiss on John’s neck. “Cuddling first.”

.

**Issy-les-Moulineaux, Hauts de Seine**

**August 2016**

The house was cute with a garden and a second floor. The day they moved him, Gato went running circle the first few hours while Alex, John and their friends unpacked. Saying goodbye to their apartment hadn’t been easy – especially they last night starring at the bedroom ceiling – but neither John nor Alex regretted that decision. Their friends called them a bunch of grandpas for moving to the suburbs after getting married.

Alex definitively saw why they thought that but could not give a fuck.

He finally understood. He didn’t thought he’d ever want that life and for a long time he hadn’t.

He’d once entertained that fantasy when he and Eliza were together and when they broke up, he’d kinda resolved himself to the fact that this wasn’t for him. He wanted a big career in the big city and that life does not let much place for family time or even a relationship.

And then John came along. So the house, the garden, the prospect to have a family soon… Yeah he could get used to that.

He wondered if he was getting old and realized that he was more than happy to. He sometimes had troubles to consider himself like an adult, even with a house and a husband and a job, probably by fear of becoming boring. Yet he had learnt that boredom was something that could never happen with John by his side.

Their friends made an impromptu _pendaison de crémaillaire_ with pizza and beers and left a little before midnight, Gilbert complaining about the last subway ride home.

_“C’est très bourgeois comme comportement ça Gilbert!”_ Alexander joked and Hercules barked out a joyous laugh before ushering the four of them out.

Alexander closed the door and laughed when he saw that John was still lying on the floor surrounded by pizza boxes that the cat was eying with interest. He lowered himself to the ground and rested his head on John’s stomach. Gato went to join them and rolled onto his back, and John smoothed the light fur of his stomach. Eventually, the cat settled under Alexander’s arm, his head on his shoulder and closed his eyes. John’s hand came to caress his husband’s hair and Alexander almost moaned to the sensation.

“I don’t know which one of you two purrs the loudest,” John chuckled and Alex just huffed in response. John didn’t stop his ministrations and Alex was enjoying this immensely. It was soothing and he was tempted to take a catnap too when John whispered:

“We’re gonna be happy here, aren’t’ we?” His voice was full of wonder, like this sentence was a magical formula, the key to solve all of their problems. In a way, it was.

“Yeah,” Alex whispered back in the same awed tone, “I think we will.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come meow at me in the comment section or on [ Tumblr ](http://i-dreamthedream.tumblr.com/)
> 
> This serie has a [ sideblog ](http://smallcitygreatrenown.tumblr.com/) where I'll probably need more guidance on how to expand this 'verse, if you're interested! 
> 
> Also I don't know if that's a thing but a huge thank you and all my love to Cheekis, Manchas and Huero for being the cutest furry friends I have in Mexico! 
> 
> Lu <3


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